Olympic bronze medalist India will return to action for the first time since their historic third place finish at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games earlier this year when they take on South Korea in their opening match of the sixth men’s Asian Champions Trophy here on Tuesday. Three-time Asian Champions Trophy winners India will defend the title they jointly won in 2018 in Muscat, Oman.
Led by skipper Manpreet Singh, who will have drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh as deputy, India have taken on a facelift, resting several players who were part of the bronze medal-winning campaign in Tokyo and the junior and upcoming Tests. do. players. Even though they may have sported a facelift, the Indians still start as favorites for the title, judging by their recent performances, which included a fourth-place finish at the Men’s Junior World Cup in Bhubaneswar earlier this month .
India have won the prestigious event thrice since its inception in 2011 and skipper Manpreet insisted on getting off to a good start as a first step in their quest for another title. “Korea are a good team and very capable of slowing down our attack. It is at this place that we drew (1-1) against them in the league stage during the 2017 Asia Cup. So, it is important that we play against them. Don’t get complacent and make sure our basics are right when we play them tomorrow.”
Apart from India and Korea, the other teams in this six-team event are three-time winners Pakistan, hosts Bangladesh, Asian Games gold medalists Japan and Malaysia. The teams will play in a single pool round-robin format, with the top four teams progressing to the semi-finals.
Speaking about the importance of the tournament for Team India, Manpreet said, “The tournament is very important for us as this is our first tournament after the Tokyo Olympics. A new cycle has begun for us. If we start well, our confidence level will go up.”
India is offering a lot of youngsters opportunities for this tournament and Manpreet explains why it will be important for them to do well here. “In the men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2021, youngsters have been given a chance to be part of the team as some of them were not getting a chance in the last two years as the focus was on the core team preparing for the Olympics.
“The youth have been working hard for a long time and hence they have been given a chance to prove themselves,” he added.
Some of these youngsters will be part of the Indian squad for the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Paris World Cup as the senior players in the team are not getting younger and the selectors will have to decide on their continuation in the team soon.
Apart from the temperament of the newcomers in the team, the fitness of the team will also be looked into as the Indian players play their first tournament after Tokyo.
On the fitness level of the team before the start of the tournament, Manpreet said, “We are in a very good position. We paid a lot of attention to our fitness recently at the camp in Bhubaneswar. We look forward to seeing how other Asian teams have shaped up over the past two years. The tournament will be a good test for our squad.”
After the first match against Korea on Tuesday, India will take on hosts Bangladesh on Wednesday. Their third match will be against arch-rivals Pakistan on December 17 and they will face Asian Games champions Japan on December 19.
The semi-finals will be played on December 21 and the final on December 22.
In the previous edition of the event held in Muscat, Oman, India had jointly won the title with Pakistan as the final was called off due to incessant rain.
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